To school, or not to school

To school, or not to school, that is the question!

Are you considering if working in a school might be for you, or someone else has suggested it? Perhaps you know that working in school hours would fit in well to your weekly schedule and you know you have some skills that would suit a school role, such as catering, administration or maintenance. Maybe you’re keen to help young people learn, and wonder exactly what it’s like being a learning support assistant or teacher.

If you have the competencies required to teach, we’d really encourage you to consider a career in teaching. You can find out more about career pathways into teaching and the qualifications required at teachinscotland.scot. You will no doubt be aware that there are school subjects in particular which are short-staffed for teachers (e.g. Chemistry, Computing, English, Gaelic, Home Economics, Maths, Modern Languages, Physics & Technological Education) but schools need excellent teachers in all subjects and stages! This article will give you some ideas as to how to find out if stepping back through those school gates again is for you or not.

If you are a Christian, remember there is always a spiritual element to decision-making. We live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7) – our ways of thinking are not God’s (Is.55:8) and therefore we should be open to exploring avenues we might not otherwise have done, or even those which the world might say are not even possible!

Speak to other people you know well who work in schools. Ask them how they feel your skills and character would be suited to working in a particular job in school. Which people and environment do they think God would want you to work in and bless? Do you agree? Pray, and get others to pray for you. As something a little different you could reflect on your decision to work in school as you watch and listen to LICC’s (London Institute for Contemporary Christianity) YouTube clip ‘Not Made for the Harbour’ (Andy Flannagan):

Here are some suggestions as to how you can get an experience of school life to ‘test the water’:-

Working directly for a school

Get in touch with the headteacher of a school you have in mind, ask if your skills match a need the school has for a one-off session or a regular session. Without having a good understanding of the curriculum there are still many ways to help in the school community. This could be something like:

• a presentation and Q&A/stall on your present employment as part of a careers topic,
• offering to help with sound systems for school productions/events,
• offering to help with reading,
• offering to tidy up or help with landscaping,
• organise a uniform swap, or
• offering to run an extra-curricular club.

Any agreed involvement with schools will require you to have a Disclosure Scotland check, organised by the school. Disclosure Scotland is the Executive Agency of the Scottish Government which provides criminal records checks.

If you are a parent, a good way to start being involved in school life is to be an active member of the parent council. Through the parent council there would usually be volunteering needs advertised and ways of being involved in school life, whether that be for fundraising events, parents evenings, school trips or other needs. Parents who hold office positions on the council often get to know more about how the school operates and what different roles within school might involve.

Working with an outside organisation which goes into a school

Depending on what your existing skills are and those you would like to build, there are opportunities to ask if there are volunteering or paid opportunities with organisations such as touring music/drama/theatre workshop groups, or Christian organisations who partner with schools such as Gideons, YFC Scotland, SU Scotland – these could be anything from helping with a lunchtime club to an RME lesson or Time for Reflection event.

Perhaps you already have professional skills which may transfer to a school-linked council provision, for example Speech and Language Therapy, other medical services, music therapy etc.

Working with a church which partners with a school

If your church doesn’t already work in a school, please encourage them to do so! There is advice on the CVE Scotland website(1) as to how to best approach a school and partner with them. The best approach is to ask the school what needs they have, and find out which your church’s congregation and/or premises may be able to help with. Serve Your Local School has plenty of ideas on different ways you could work with schools and support staff and pupils.

There may be many reasons why you would like to work in a school. If one of your reasons includes helping young people explore different beliefs and give them opportunity to meet someone with a Christian faith, then we think that’s a good reason. So does the Scottish Government: “As a Government we recognise the substantial and enduring influence of the Christian faith in transforming and inspiring Scotland’s people and culture. Faith-based education…. has an important part to play in the development of our young people as successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors.”(2)  But if you decide that a voluntary or paid role in school is for you, then you should enjoy your job, be committed to being excellent at your role and fulfilling that which the school expects. And you can from there love and serve all those around you as you do that, as you would in any other workplace. Your impact may seem small, at least to start with. Perhaps you’ll be a great colleague who doesn’t get drawn into gossip, a volunteer who is good at listening and remembering young people’s interests, or a support staff member who commits to running an after-school club to suit the needs of young people who don’t have a lot of other opportunities outside of school. You won’t be surprised to hear that being in school has its challenges. There will be hard days and tough decisions but knowing you are where you are meant to be, and helping young people grow as learners, will inspire you to keep going.

Whatever you decide is the role for you, having thought it through carefully, you will know you are in the right place at the right time, impacting individuals and whole school communities.

Now, who else can you recommend for working in schools?!

1. Documents on advice on partnering with schools
i) Why do Schools Need Chaplains & Churches?! – CVE Scotland (cve-scotland.org.uk)
ii) Recommended ‘Code of Conduct’ for School Chaplains – CVE Scotland (cve-scotland.org.uk)
iii) There’s a School Near our Church – CVE Scotland (cve-scotland.org.uk)

2. Letter to CVE Scotland from the Scottish Government, 23 September 2015